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Rays agree to minor league deal with OF Jake Smolinski

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Outfielder Jake Smolinski signed a minor league deal with the Rays on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: Unknown)

The Tampa Bay Rays agreed to a minor league deal with free-agent outfielder Jake Smolinski on Wednesday. Smolinski will likely receive an invitation to big league camp come Spring Training.

Smolinski was outrighted off the 40-man roster last month and elected free agency. The outfielder’s 2018 campaign was cut short by a blood clot in his left calf, hitting just .128 AB/.171 OBP/.205 SLG/.376 OPS across 41 plate appearances, resulting in a mid-May demotion to Triple-A Nashville. Smolinski, however, bounced back and posted a terrific .278 BA/.372 OBP/.548 SLG/.920 OPS line with the Sounds. Be that as it may, he is a career .227 BA/.287 OBP/.357 SLG/.644 OPS hitter in the big leagues. The right-handed hitter has handled southpaws well throughout his Major League career, slashing .282 BA/.351 OBP/.473 SLG/.824 OPS in 276 plate appearances against left-handers, with 11 home runs and 36 RBI.

As it stands, Tampa Bay boasts a 40-man roster that includes outfielders Tommy Pham, Kevin Kiermaier and Austin Meadows, as well as utility options like Brandon Lowe and Daniel Robertson. Smolinski will vie for a bench role in Spring Training, competing against the recently acquired outfielder Guillermo Heredia for a right-handed hitting outfield spot on the 2019 roster. If he doesn’t break camp with the team, it is foreseeable that Smolinski would head to Triple-A Durham as depth in case of injury.

Rays complete Mike Zunino deal

On Thursday, the Rays completed the five-player deal which netted catcher Mike Zunino and outfielder Guillermo Heredia and sent Mallex Smith to Seattle. We wrote about the deal yesterday.

Rays trade Mallex Smith to Seattle for Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia

The Rays also acquired minor league southpaw Michael Plassmeyer, yet lost outfielder Jake Fraley, in the trade

Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors) wrote about Plassmeyer, saying:

Plassmeyer, 22, was the Mariners’ fourth-round pick just five months ago in the 2018 draft, which aligns with Dipoto’s willingness to deal from his most recent draft classes. He traded catcher David Banuelos, his 2017 fifth-rounder, to the Twins last December and also flipped 2017 fourth-rounder Seth Elledge to the Cardinals this past summer. Plassmeyer, Mizzou product, posted a ridiculous 44-to-4 K/BB ratio through 24 innings in Short-Season Class-A ball this summer.

Jeff Sullivan (FanGraphs) broke down the trade, calling it a win for the Rays:

You can see an argument favoring either side of this, but I find the Rays’ to be more convincing.

Rays trade Mallex Smith to Seattle for Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia

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Mike Zunino, the Rays new starting catcher. Photo Credit: Unknown)

The Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners made the first significant trade of the 2018-19 offseason, sending outfielder Mallex Smith to the Pacific Northwest in exchange for catcher Mike Zunino and outfielder Guillermo Heredia. Tampa Bay could also include an additional lower-level prospect in the agreement, writes Ryan Divish (Seattle Times). The deal is pending medical reviews, so nothing is official just yet.

Zunino, 27, is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $4.2-Million through arbitration this winter and is under team control until 2020, while Smith is not yet arbitration-eligible after narrowly avoiding Super-Two status, and is controlled through 2022.

The deal marks the second time in the past two seasons that Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto has acquired Smith, although his original tenure with the Mariners was measured in hours. Dipoto traded for Smith from the Braves in a deal that sent Luiz Gohara to Atlanta. Yet Smith was promptly flipped to Tampa Bay in order to acquire Drew Smyly. Unfortunately for Seattle, Smyly injured his arm in Spring Training 2017, an injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery before he ever threw a pitch in Seattle.

Zunino brings about pole to pole power and premium defensive skills, yet, he pairs those highly vaunted attributes with a blemished 34.2% career strikeout rate and questionable on-base skills. He’s coming off a disappointing 2018 campaign in which he slashed .201 BA/.251 OBP/.406 SLG/.657 OPS, albeit with 20 homers. Yet he is just a season removed from a .251 BA/.339 OBP/.509 SLG/.848 OPS campaign with a career-high 25 homers. Over the last three seasons, Zunino has performed to a combined .223 BA/.300 OBP/.462 SLG/.762 OPS line with 57 homers across 1032 plate appearances.

As Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors) notes, Zunino’s average and OBP might not jump out, but when adjusting for the Mariners’ pitcher-friendly home park, that level of production rates at about seven percent better than the league-average hitter and nearly 20 percent better than that of a league-average catcher (by measure of OPS and wRC+).

Defensively, Zunino is a strong throwing/framing catcher with more power than just about any catcher in the game, Wilson Ramos precluded. He threw out a career-high 35% of would-be base stealers last season, and he continually ranks among the league leaders in terms of pitch framing — boasting an 8.5 oStr% (tied for 14th behind John Ryan Murphy) and 27 +Calls according to Stat Corner.

The acquisition could push Michael Perez from a starting role to a backup job, although Perez was impressive in his brief Major League promotion last season — hitting .284 BA/.304 OBP/.392 SLG/.696 OPS with a homer and five doubles, while also throwing out 29% of would-be base stealers (17 total). In all likelihood, Zunino and Perez, who has received good defensive ratings throughout his minor league career, will battle it out for the starting position in Spring Training. Whatever the case, the platoon gives Tampa Bay a couple of solid defenders behind the plate.

Heredia, 28, is similar to Smith in that he’s a speedy outfielder (ranking 55/55 in speed according to FanGraphs), with minimal power, who is capable of handling all three outfield positions. He, however, has amassed poor defensive ratings in centerfield (-9 DRS in 2018), though he grades out above-average in the outfield corners. He hit .236 BA/.318 OBP/.342 SLG/.660 OPS with the Mariners across 337 plate appearances last season.

Heredia is not likely to get the bulk of the reps in the outfield, which should feature Tommy Pham, Kevin Kiermaier and Austin Meadows as starters. He, however, could give the Rays a nice bench option, or depth at Triple-A since he has multiple minor league options remaining.

Tampa Bay Rays receive Shane Baz as PTBNL in Chris Archer trade

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Acquired in the Chris Archer trade, Shane Baz projects to be a top of the rotation hurler and is sixth on the current Rays prospect list between Liberatore and Ronaldo Hernandez. (Photo Credit: MLB.com)

When the Tampa Bay Rays dealt Chris Archer to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline, they received Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and a third player to be named later (PTBNL). On Tuesday that player was named — right-handed pitching prospect Shane Baz.

Baz was Pittsburgh’s 12th overall selection in the 2017 MLB draft and signed for $4.1-million. He has performed to a 3.91 ERA in 20 professional starts (69 innings of work) while striking out 73 and walking 37 (1.97% K/BB). His 26.1% strikeout rate is good, however, his control is shaky.

Before coming over the Rays Baz, 19, was ranked fourth in the Pirates prospect system and 95th overall according to MLB Pipeline. The right-hander grades out at an overall 50, and has been lauded for his deep repertoire compared to most young pitchers. According to FanGraphs, he has high marks on his mid-90’s fastball (55/60) and also boasts a cutter (45/60) that he can manipulate to get sliding action, a curveball (50/60) and a changeup (60) which is his weakest option.

According to MLB Pipeline Baz should be able to find the strike zone consistently as he refines his approach:

Baz has a combination of deep repertoire and projection that gives him a very high ceiling. His fastball velocity picked up in his senior year. He’ll sit at 92-96 mph and can reach back for 98 mph, with the ability to run and sink it while not losing velocity deep into his starts. He can miss bats with a plus cutter that he can turn into a true slider, and he also spins a distinctly different curveball. His changeup gives him another potential Major League average pitch. A solid athlete, Baz should be able to find the strike zone consistently as he refines his delivery.

Tampa Bay assigned Baz to their Appalachian League team in Princeton, and next season he should be moved to Bowling Green where he can hone his potential for the Rays.

While it’s still technically too early to determine who won the trade between Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, the Rays got Tyler Glasnow, who is already paying dividends, and Austin Meadows, who should be promoted to the big leagues in the near future. The Rays also got a high ceiling player in Baz, who could impact the team down the road. Meanwhile, the Pirates received Chris Archer, who has relinquished nine runs on 18 hits and six walks over 14-1/3 innings. I’ll let you decide.

LBWMF: Rays rally in extras to defeat Le Tigre, 10-9; David Cross on Tampa’s lights

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Thanks to Daniel Robertson’s extra inning walkoff hit, the Rays start the day two-games over .500, matching a season high. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays scored five first inning runs, and held leads of 5-0, 7-3 and 9-7. Yet after losing a two-run lead late in the ball game, the Rays scratched across a 10th inning run, allowing them to walk it off against the Detroit Tigers, 10-9. Tampa Bay starts the day two games over .500 — equaling the team’s high-water mark — having gone 12-1 in its last 13 home games.

Chris Archer got the start for Tampa Bay, his first since June 5, and instantly found himself in trouble in a long, 25-pitch first inning. Archer allowed the first two batters to reach via a leadoff walk and a single, although he worked around the jam by coaxing a ground ball out, sandwiched between a pair of swinging strikeouts.

Meanwhile, all nine Rays batters came to the plate in a five run first against Francisco Liriano. Matt Duffy started the rally with a one out single off the glove of sliding centerfielder, Victor Reyes. Daniel Robertson and Wilson Ramos followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases before CJ Cron — who is slashing .500 BA/.545 OBP/.900 SLG/1.445 OPS with a .400 ISO in the month of July — lashed an RBI single to left. Jake Bauers drove in the second run on a 3-6 fielder’s choice with Robertson crossing the plate. The inning probably should have ended on the next play, but a little bit of Tropicana Field’s serendipitous magic allowed Adeiny Hechavarria’s pop fly to right to get lost in the lights as it fell in front of Castellanos, allowing two runs to come across on what was scored a double. Carlos Gomez followed with a run-scoring hit to left, capping the five-run rally.

Archer worked around more traffic on the base paths in the second inning, but gave up three runs in the third when Victor Reyes and Ronny Rodriguez singled, and Nick Castellanos walked, loading the bases. Niko Goodrum doubled to right, driving in a pair before Archer retired the next three batters (although Jim Adduci was able to push across another run on a ground out) to end the frame.

Archer did receive a little help from INF/OF Daniel Robertson, who laid it all out to end the frame with a diving grab.

Be that as it may, the Rays got two of those runs back against Liriano. Ramos led things off with an opposite field homer, on a fastball that caught too much plate.

Rod Gardenhire had seen enough of Liriano, and pulled him from the game after Cron doubled to left and Hechavarria walked. With two on and one out, reliever Drew Ver Hagen appeared to get an inning-ending double play off the bat of Gomez, but the ball took an awkward hop off the second base bag for a run-scoring double, pushing the lead to four.

Archer, who was on a pitch count, again took the mound in the fourth, although he was lifted with one out and two on after throwing 78 pitches. He gave up six hits and two walks, while fanning three. Hunter Wood came on in relief and settled things down for a bit, tossing 2-2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Seesaws are going to seesaw, and the lead got away in the seventh inning with right-hander Jamie Schultz on the mound.

Schultz allowed a free pass to Rodriguez, hit Castellanos, and allowed a run-scoring double to Niko Goodrum, all in the span of 16 pitches. With the lead in jeopardy, Adam Kolarek entered the fray and threw one pitch to Victor Martinez, who lined a ball to right-field which Gomez caught for the first out. Gomez threw a bullet to the home plate that would have gotten Castellanos for the second out … had Ramos held onto the ball. Diego Castillo entered the game and got pinch-hitter John Hicks to pop out to first, however, the right-hander walked former Ray Mikie Mahtook and hit James McCann to load the bases. Jose Iglesias proceeded to line a game tying, 1-0 double to left.

Tampa Bay reclaimed the lead back in the bottom of the seventh against Louis Coleman, because seesaws are going to seesaw. Cron led off the inning with a double to right, his third hit of the night, before Jake Bauers singled Johnny Field, who pinch-ran for Cron, to third. After Hechavarria lined out to second, Gomez laid down a perfectly placed bunt single toward third, allowing Field to score. Pinch-hitter Joey “he can hit” Wendle connected for a double to right, with Bauers crossing the plate to put the Rays up by two, but Gomez was thrown out at third, ending the rally.

And in true seesaw fashion, Detroit scored two runs in the eighth inning, again tying the game. Ryne Stanek started the frame by coaxing a popper to right from Rodriguez for the first out, but followed by allowing a double to Castellanos. Jose Alvarado entered the game and got Goodrum to ground out on the first pitch of the at-bat, but V-Mart hit an RBI single to draw Detroit within one.

Closer Sergio Romo was summoned from the bullpen to get the final out of the eighth, but quickly gave up a first pitch single to John Hicks, allowing Martinez to move into second. It then looked like Mahtook on a would be ground out softly wide of first, but Bauers fielded the play and responded by throwing the ball well over the head of Romo, who was covering the bag, and into the Rays dugout. The error allowed pinch-runner Jacoby Jones to score the game tying run. Romo finished the eighth and pitched the ninth as well, retiring the final four batters he faced.

After Matt Andriese threw a scoreless top of the tenth, Tampa Bay rallied against Blaine Hardy, who threw a zero up in the ninth.

Wendle led off the frame innocuously enough with a ground out to short, yet Kevin Kiermaier tripled to left-center with one, putting the winning run just 90 feet from home plate. Duffy, the next batter, quickly fell behind 0-2, although he inevitably worked a nine-pitch at-bat before he drew a walk. Robertson proved to be the final batter of the game, and after he squared around to bunt on the first pitch of the at-bat, he lined a ball through the middle, giving the Rays a walk off victory.

Robertson ended the night with three hits, as did Gomez and Cron, and the Rays collected 18 in total.

The New What Next

The Rays play game two of the series on Tuesday with Matt Boyd (4-7, 4.58 ERA) starting for Detroit, pitching opposite of the bullpen for Tampa Bay. Ryan Yarbrough (7-4, 3.75 ERA) is expected to throw the bulk of the innings since Andriese pitched Monday night.

Ryan Yarbrough allowed two runs on four hits and one walk over three innings of a no-decision against Miami on Tuesday. He struck out three. Yarbrough ran into a bit of trouble in the second inning, loading the bases on an IBB before the opposing pitcher, Trevor Richards, laced a two-run single to center. Even though he limited the damage and breezed through the third inning with ease, Yarbrough didn’t come back out for the fourth despite tossing 6-1/3 innings and 90 pitches in his previous outing. He has allowed four runs total in his last 15-1/3 innings of work.

Matthew Boyd allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits over four innings in his last start against the Rangers. He struck out three. Boyd didn’t allow a run in the first inning, yet allowed multiple runs thereafter before receiving the early hook in the fourth. The key blows were a pair of two-run homers by Joey Gallo and Ronald Guzman. Boyd has been hit or miss since limiting the Rays to one run on May 1, allowing five or more earned runs three times over his past four starts — pushing his ERA up from 3.23 before his rough stretch to 4.58. He is 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (1-3), Johnny Field (1-2), Adeiny Hechavarria (1-3), Kevin Kiermaier (1-1), Wilson Ramos (1-2, BB), Mallex Smith (1-3)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Tigers part two — a series preview

Rays 7/10/18 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Duffy 3B
Robertson LF
Ramos C
Cron DH
Bauers 1B
Hechavarria SS
Gomez RF
Adames 2B
Stanek RHP

Noteworthiness

— Tampa Bay Rays:

David Cross:

Golly, look at all them buildings lit up! I didn’t think it could be physically possible to do that! Look at that one! …Gasp… Look at that one! Gosh glorifying us with his magnificent fluorescence!

— Your requisite reminder: The Rays are now 29-1 when they score at least five runs.

The next formidable opponent in the Rays stadium saga: the Koch Brothers

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More hurdles for the Hillsborough County Commission, who seeks to bring the Tampa Bay Rays to Ybor City.

On Wednesday, Steve Contorno (Tampa Bay Times) reported that Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a conservative advocacy group funded by David H. and Charles Koch, began running video ads urging Hillsborough County residents to oppose the use of tax dollars for a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays.

According to the article, AFP — who also has launched similar advocacy campaigns in other cities where sports teams seek public funds for new stadiums — aims to draw a line in the sand as discussions continue between local government officials and the Rays to ensure no taxpayer money is used to woo the team from one side of the bay to the other.

The video in question is complete with an animated ‘taxpayer’ being bowled over by a player sliding into a base, and says, “When it comes to the big game of corporate welfare, the taxpayers are always the losers.”

The team has proposed the building of a new stadium in Ybor City, yet no financial details have been made publicly available. The estimated cost of a new stadium is somewhere between $500-800 million, while Rays Principal Owner Stu Sternberg has committed just $150-million to the project.

The team claims it will need a public subsidy to make the budget work, a point which team president Brian Auld spoke about during a recent talk at the St. Petersburg Tiger Bay Club:

Our business isn’t able to fund a ballpark on its own, Auld said. Our debt payments would hamstring payroll and we wouldn’t be able to put a competitive product on the field.

Auld continued:

There is absolutely a reasonable argument to be made that’s not where this community wants to put its dollars. We’re going to make our case that we think it does have a positive return, that a new ballpark can lead to a higher tax base that can fund a whole bunch of other services in the area. But it’s not an easy case.

It is unlikely that Hillsborough County commissioners would propose a tax increase that would necessitate a public referendum, which likely is the catalyst for AFP’s entry into the fray.

Ken Hagan, the Hillsborough County lead on the discussions with the Rays, has not been transparent in his dealings with the team, and famously championed the secretive deal which bought the Atlanta Braves a new home in Cobb County.

It’s the perfect model for what we’re trying to do here, Hagan said in a June 2017 interview with Sports Talk Florida. (Come up with) a financing plan that the development can help pay.

Yet the same funding apparatus advocated by Hagan has caused a major a budget shortfall of $30 to $55-million, forcing Cobb County officials to raid $21 million in rainy-day funds to plug the gaping hole in the 2018 budget.

Neil deMause (Field of Schemes) also found that Cobb County is looking at just $5.2-million in new revenue from the new facility, for a return on investment of at least negative-80% — less than a 60% annual profit.

The digital ad is reportedly only the start of the campaign. Americans For Progress is prepared to use the Koch Brothers money to launch phone banks and radio ads, and to send out mailers to further encourage Hillsborough County residents to pressure their politicians.

 

AFP’s efforts could still influence funding decisions if Hillsborough County commissioners believe there will be a political cost to supporting publicly funded stadium subsidies.

St. Petersburg has proposed the building of a new stadium in an effort to keep the team, by similarly using money from the existing bed tax or new development on public land. There is a difference, however: Pinellas County has already accrued a substantial amount of money through the current bed tax mechanism, and isn’t considering any new taxes.

Per Contorno, Ben Kirby, spokesman for Mayor Rick Kriseman, confirmed these considerations but said the mayor “has no plans to ask our taxpayers to incur the costs of a new stadium via a new tax.”